Improvement in poetabie animal-tethee



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'ANDREW lInneren-0E wEsr MiDnL'Erow-N, PENNSYLVANIA.

Letters yPatent No. 74,475, dated l.Febraarg/ v11, '1868.

IMPROVEMENT IN P'BJIABliE ANIMAL-TBTHBR.

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j Be it known that l, ANDREW RALSTON, of West Middletown, in the county of Washington, and'State of Pennsylvania, have invented a Portable Stock-Feeding Hitching-Frame; and I do 'hereby declare that the fcllowing is a full, clear, and enact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, inwh'iehp i Figure 1 Vis a perspective view of the portable stock-bitching frame.

Figure 2 is an elevation of oneoi' vthe'. portable bitching-posts.

`Figure 3 is an end-elevation of the same.

Figure'ei shows thc loaded tether and its swivelling pendant.

Srimilar'letters of reference indicateacorresponding'parts in the several figures.

The object'of this invention'is to afford a simpleand very conve-nient means whereby stock can be allowed perfect freedom for grazing, Vand at-the same time prevented from straying beyond certain limits.

The nature 'of my invention consists in a frame, which is constructed of two upright posts or standards, mounted upon portable foundations or carriages, and arranged at day desired distance apart, said posts being connected together by means of a strong hitching-cable or chain,l whieh'is arranged a suicient height from the groundto allow the animals which are hitched toit to pass beneath'it, and which is provided with means for takin-g 11p-the slack, -andkeeping it under proper tension,l as will be hereinafter described.l A

The invention further consists in attaching to a hitchinguope or chain, which is sustained at a suitable height above ground, lby means of stationary or movable posts, one or more swivelling pulley-carrying pendants, provided with a rope which has a weight attached. to one` end, and a chain and snap-hook attachedto the` other end, as will be hereinafter described, whereby animals canbe' readily hitched to the rope or chain above them, and allowed to graze within certain limits, without liability of becoming entangled by the lines.

Toenable others skilled in the art to understand myy invention, I will describe its'oonstruction and operation.

In the accompanying drawings, A A represent two strong posts or standards, which are-applied to inde- Y pendent carriage s,'so that `they can be moved about from one place to another with facility, Both carriages are constructed alike, and the .two posts which they sustain are about an equalv length. Each one of the c ar riages consists of two strong beams, B Bf, crossed, as shown 'in the drawings, and mounted upon rollers or"- wheels, CD. The 'posts A A of the carriages are .r'mly braced 'and sustained in upright -positions, no lthat they will resist all the stra-in to which they may be subjected when in use. ,y The orossed'rtimbers forming the foundations for the posts, should he made of suiicient length toaord wide base-supportsfor their posts, and. n prevent liability of 'their` being overturned. VThe posts A A7 are' connected together bymeans of a' rope or chain, vE, which is4 attached at one end to-a pin',.a, at the upper end of p dst'A, lanulfpassedovera grooved pulley, at the upper end of the .post A, as clearly showrnin tig. 1. From *pulley t, the rope'or chain E isV carried down and attached tothe drumof awindlass, F, which is applied'to post A, near its base, and provided with a ratchet, c, and pawl, d, for keeping the rope or`ch'an under proper tension.Y instead of using a rope or chain, metal rods maybe employed, as shown in fig. 1, extendingfrom onerpostto the other, and provided with eyes on their extremities, as shown. A. When such rods are employed, they can he drawn tight and kept under proper tension, by employing a rope or chain for connecting one end to'fthe windlssF. At an intermediateipoint l between the two posts A A', 4I attach to the rods, rope, or chain E, afplate, e, to which a pin,f, having a head on its lower end,is firmly secured. This" pin f is held ina vertical position, and sustains an inverted T-'shaped l frame, G, -in such manneras to allow this frame tolswivel orturn horizontally around the pin f. Uponnthe' extended arms'of frame G, and between the plates thereof, are pulleys g g, 'over which a rope, It, passes, that carries on one end a weight, W, and has attached to the other end two or more linked rods, iz'. The lowcrmost rod i has a. snaphook,j, or other suitable fasteningsdevice vattachedtoit,` by means-ofnhich an animal can be readily fastened and unfastened. Y i

By means of the above-described eontrivance, an animal can he fastened to the bitching-rope or chain E,

and allowed to graze around a distance equal tothe length of the tether. The tether4 being composed of long links or rods, z', anda rope or chain, h, and suspended from the extended arms cfa swivelling-franie, as described,, t vit will be seen that these lfeatures, in. connection #with ,the weight upon one end of the tether, will prevent ity from becoming tangled, or getting in the way of the animal hitched to it. l Iu'practice, the 4bitching-chain or rope, E, may be made long enough, andthe posts A A' set far enough apart to allow ofthe tethering to itv of a number of animals. As theposts and their carriages are necessarily very heavy, I employ long levers, JJ, for facilitating the moving of these posts and carriages from oneplace to another. These levers have rods, J J', pivoted to their upperv ends, by meansv of which they can be vibrate'd. Each frame or'carriage is providedwth one ofthe levers J, which is pivoted to the axle .of the large traction-wheels D D, which axle is -keyed toland K caused to turn with said wheels.` Two pawls, pp, are applied to each lever J, which engage with the ratchet- Wheels r r,'i1pon said axle, when the lever J is vibrated'in-one direction, and thus allow the post-carriage'to be moved by means of this lever. In fig. 1, I haveshown, attached tothe weight W, an auxiliary weight and Gord or chain, which will serve to counteract-the weight of the chain z', and keep it under proper tension all times.

Having described my invention, what l'claimas new, and desire `to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A portable` stock-feeding bitching-frame, consisting of upright posts A A', mounted upon carriages, and l 4provided with a bitching-repent chain, E, and also withmeans for keeping this rope or chain under proper tension, substantially as described.l

2. In combination with' uprghts'A A', and a bitching-rope or chain, E, claimsl swivel-frame, G, and a loaded tether, h z', substantially asvdescrihed. i

' ANDREW RALSTON.

Wltn ess es B. WILSON, Emv. SCHAFER.' 

